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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Lore tells us that fairies spend most of their time dancing, playing music, and holding elaborate parties. We thought it would be fun to bring together authors of paranormal, supernatural, and fantasy novels to celebrate fairies and fairytale creatures as we approach Midsummer...

Of course, we can't know exactly what the ancient fairy carnivals might have looked like. Nor we can we imagine what they would look like today. We do, however, know how they looked in the 1980s:

Now, on the subject of fairies, we turn today's post over to L.K. Rigel...

At last - it's Opening Day at the fair! Thanks for inviting me, Jeff. As your guests enter the fairy fairgrounds, it might be useful to know a few things about the fae. Here are 10 fun facts about fairies.

1. Where do fairies come from? The oldest and strongest fairies were once fallen angels. These are the lightest fae and the darkest—the most benign, and the most dangerous.

Some fae were once humans who got lost in the fairylands (where time works differently). As magic permeated them to their souls, they turned. They became immortal and beautiful—but they lost their humanity and their capacity for compassion.

A fairy can begin as a faeling—the child of a human-fae coupling. If the child is born in the fairylands, she turns almost immediately. If born in the human world, she may never know about its fairy nature.

2. Fairies hate iron. A fairy feels icky near iron, like he just smelled rotten eggs or walked barefoot on broken glass. A fairy can’t escape an iron cage—it nullifies his magic. Iron gives fairies horrific headaches. Speaking of headaches—and having nothing to do with iron—a fairy can give a human an instant headache.

3. Fairies love all things sparkly. All but the oldest of fae are easily distracted by a shiny object. Fairies like crystal jewelry. Brownies are charmed by Christmas tree tinsel—though they hate when it falls on the floor. Sprites adore starshine. Goblins covet bright-cut silver and gold.

4. Fairies expect good manners, but they loathe being thanked. “Thank you” insults them. As if a mere word is sufficient acknowledgement of their favor! But they do like gifts of appreciation. In an episode of Lost Girl, Kenzie loved it when a brownie made delicious treats for her and Bo and cleaned up their messy house. But when she took him for granted, things went bad. All he wanted was his favorite cereal!

5. It’s dangerous to accept favors from fairies. See #4: Mere gratitude won’t be adequate payment. The fairy will want something in return. It might be your iPad. It might just be the cheap sparkly earrings you’re wearing.

But if you’re in a fairy story you know he’ll more likely want the one thing you don’t want to give—and when it’s most inconvenient to give it. Accepting fairy magic generally does not turn out well. If you think about it, in most fairy tales there’s always a problem with the wish a fairy grants!

6. Troop Night is the fairy version of New Year’s Eve. On Troop Night (called Halloween or Mischief Night by humans) the fairies gather together then troop out into the human world in a long, long procession. If they’re light fae, they spend the hours from midnight to dawn granting favors and doing good deeds. If they’re dark they cast curses, pull pranks, and create havoc.

7. Fairies don’t like bread or salt. If you want to keep a trinket safe from fairies, pour a circle of salt around it. It’s a good idea to keep a holy cake in your pocket when you go abroad at night, especially on Troop Night. If you see a fairy, throw crumbs or salt at it – and run!

8. In the fairylands, time is different. Never, never, never go into the fairylands without an exit strategy. Time passes so fast there, a hundred years can feel like a day. Be careful! In Give Me, the breaking spell that lets a human escape is to say “I forgive you” three times to the fairy who detained you.

9. Fairies like to steal babies and replace them with changelings. Okay, personally I don’t get this. Babies require a lot of work, and fairies are more interested in play. If they wanted a human to play with, why not take one that’s at least potty trained?

My theory is the babies they try to steal are faelings, and they believe they’re only returning the child to its proper world.

10. Above all things, fairies love music. And they’re good at making it. Fairy music can keep a human dancing until their feet fall off and bloody stumps are all that’s left. In the Songs of Magicseries, when Jason steals enchanted instruments from the fairylands, his band becomes a sensation. Of course, there’s a price to be paid…

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I'm starting a new sideline this summer: editing books for indie authors. I've had a number of indie authors contact me for various kinds of advice over the past year or two, and I feel like I want to help out in an organized way. As an indie myself, I know it can be difficult to find good editing services that fit an indie budget, and I enjoy helping the indie community when I can, so I've decided to embark on this adventure.

I am looking to edit books in the following genres: paranormal, contemporary fantasy, horror, dystopian, and science fiction. I am keeping the number of books fairly limited, but I look forward to working with some indies and helping them develop their craft.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A few months ago, a film student from the UK named Rosie Jane Shepherd contacted me and asked if she could make a Jenny Pox promo video for a Visual Effects course. Well, that wasn't a very hard decision for me!
Now Rosie has completed the video, and we're revealing it on Bookish Brunette as part of her May Zombie Craze event. Go check it out!!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

If you've been poking around my blog, you might have noticed buttons and links to another blog page advertising the Midsummer Dream Fair in June.

What is this fascinating and mysterious event? A number of great indie (and semi-indie) authors will be guest blogging or contributing short stories about some of their favorite fairy tales and fairy tale creatures and giving away books...but this is no ordinary book blog event! We'll also have a psychic visiting to talk about elemental faeries, a creature-judging contest, snacks, unicorns, and other surprises.

If you have a book blog you can have your blog button added as a Silver sponsor by decorating your blog with one of the Midsummer Dream Fair buttons in my right sidebar there. Just place one of the buttons on your blog from now until June 24, the final days of the fair. Add a comment to this post and the address of your blog so I can grab your blog button, and you'll be a silver-level sponsor!